The Crowing
by Winter Ashby
Summary: Sakura spends the night in the Suna hospital ward with Kankurou before she sets out on the mission to rescue Gaara. [Kankurou & Sakura]


**Title:** The Crowing**  
Author:** Winter Ashby _(rosweldrmr)_  
**Disclaimer:** Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**  
Rating: **K+**  
Summary: **Sakura spends the night in the Suna hospital ward with Kankurou before she sets out on the mission to rescue Gaara. (Sakura & Kankurou)  
**Authors Notes: **I blame the new episodes, and my boyfriend who so kindly implied that Sakura _wanted_ Kankurou. And I was inclined to agree. This is probably horrible, and totally OOC, but I just had to write it. So if it sucks, I'm sorry. I really do apologize.

* * *

Sakura brushed her bangs out of her eyes and checked Kankurou's IV. He was still sleeping, although he moaned and thrashed every now and then. She could still see that he was shaking. Even as he slept, the minute amount of poison left in his system was fighting back against the antidote. 

Her brow furrowed. She was concerned. The poison was unlike any other she'd ever seen, and she combed through Tsunade's library every chance she got. It was almost like an old Suna poison that she'd run across in the archives from before the Third Great Ninja Wars. But records from that far back were sketchy at best.

Sakura recognized the toxin in two distinct forms. First, there were the hard metals that acted to infect the heart and other major organs and cause massive internal shutdown. And then there was an herbal based poison with what Sakura thought was infused with another natural kind of poison. She thought it nearly resembled the venom Orochimaru was toying with when he was still in Konoha.

But this second part of the toxin was the most troubling. She'd managed to remove almost all the hard metals, and what was left, if Kankurou was well enough, his kidneys and liver could process. But it was the venom/toxin that was the problem. It wasn't just as though the two DNA strands were mixed together, and congealed to form a compound poison. In fact, it was much more frightening than that.

The second part of the poison was almost as if it was a hybrid. Part plant toxin, part snake venom: it was… unnatural. It disturbed Sakura more than she cared to admit. That kind of combination would take decades to perfect. The genetic re-sequencing of the coding was done by a professional. There was no doubt in her mind that Kankurou had gone up against a member of Akatsuki, and lived.

She wondered how he remained alive. The strike that he took to the chest administered the poison directly into his blood stream, and so close to his heart. In a matter of minutes, he would have been de-capacitated. Why then was he left alive?

Sakura thought about this as she ran her hands over Kankurou's sleeping torso with her chakra. Everything seemed to be going much better now. He would live, surely. But she feared that the lasting effects of the toxin in his bloodstream would flare up if she didn't monitor it closely throughout the night.

Everyone else was asleep. Kakashi and Naruto were taken to their rooms. The ancient brother and sister hobbled out of the hospital ward not long after. The other medic-nin from Suna wandered through the halls, aimlessly for a while before Sakura got annoyed and sent them away. It took Baki and Temari much longer to leave. But after Sakura assured them over and over that Kankurou was no longer in any danger, they seemed willing to turn in for the night.

Of curse, Sakura gave them a moment alone with Kankurou. She was surprised at how close the two siblings seemed to be. But even more so for how devoted Baki was to them. She'd been around Temari more in the past two years, but she hadn't seen Kankurou, Gaara, or Baki in that time. And with a twinge of guilt, she realized that she still thought of them the same way she did when they were genin, taking the chunnin exams.

She didn't like to think about that. It was far too painful a memory to dwell on. And as Sakura leaned against the wall of the hospital she was overcome with that same pressing sadness that she'd felt in the forest when she watched Naruto.

"Temari?" Kankurou's dry, cracked voice broke through the silence and Sakura hurried to his side.

"Kankurou-san, Temari-san isn't here. It's late, but I could get her…" Sakura leaned over the bed and spoke in a low whisper.

He made a face and grumbled. "No, don't bother." His left hand reached to pull at the IV in his right arm.

"No!" Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled it back easily. He was still very weak from the poison. "No, you can't pull that out. You need it through the night. In the morning, I'll take it out. I promise." She added, looking at the anxious expression on his face.

"What time is it?" He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself to be pushed back into the bed by Sakura.

"It's nearly 4:45 in the morning." She soothed him as she released his hand, but didn't step away. "Everyone else is asleep."

"Where are the medic-nin's?" Kankurou asked and Sakura frowned.

"_I'm_ right here, Kankurou-san."

"No, I mean the Suna medics."

"I sent them away." Sakura crossed her arms, petulantly.

"I see." He said as he watched her through narrowed eyes. Apparently, he didn't like having a foreign ninja treating him. "When can I leave?"

"Leave?" Sakura asked, confused.

"To find Gaara." He looked away.

"You aren't going anywhere. Not for a few days at least. That poison you were hit with was…" she trailed off while she thought again about the hodgepodge toxin.

"It was made by an expert."

"And it was neutralized by an expert as well." Sakura busied herself with checking his vitals again, running her chakra over his abdomen. It didn't look as bloated as it had before. That was a good sign. She prodded his stomach, moving her fingers over his skin, down to his lower belly.

"Ow." Kankurou protested and jerked away.

"Sorry. I'm just worried about your spleen. It got a rather big dose of the poison." She chewed on her lip, a habit she'd formed working in the hospital back home. "How are your bowels feeling?" She asked, casually.

"My _bowels_," Kankurou spat, "are just fine." He looked like a sulking child.

"I'm just trying to make sure you're okay."

"Well, I'm fine, thanks…" he abruptly stopped himself and his voice changed, "thanks to you." And he crossed his large arms over his chest and stubbornly looked away.

Men didn't like to be treated by women, Sakura noticed. They much rather had men saving them, and women bathing them. She supposed she shouldn't expect anything different from the men of Suna either. "Well, you're welcome. Are you hungry?"

"No."

"I don't believe you." She said lightly and crossed the room where two trays were resting on an empty bed. She brought one over to him. "Here."

Kankurou lifted himself with his elbow and looked at the tray. There was a pile of rust colored rice and dark, wilted greens. "No thanks." He said as he collapsed back.

"You need your strength, and the calcium in the Kale," she pointed to the greens, "will be good for you."

"And what about the spoilt rice?" Kankurou asked, sounding spoilt himself. Sakura wondered just how privileged the life of the brother of the Kazekage was.

"It's not spoiled. It's made with a kind of clay that absorbs toxins in the body." She answered, like it was perfectly reasonable to eat clay-rice.

"Like I said, no thanks." He didn't bother to open his eyes.

"Fine, suit yourself." And she shuffled off to put the tray of food back.

"Why are you still here?" Kankurou's question caught Sakura off guard. She turned sharply from across the room and glared.

"Why, would you like me to leave?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"No." He answered quickly. "I was just wondering, didn't Baki have a room made up for you?" His left hand started to shake and he clenched it into a fist to make it stop.

"Oh, well, yes he did. But you needed to be monitored." She noted as she swiftly made her way back to his bedside and took his trembling hand in hers. He didn't say anything as the pried his fist apart easily and used her chakra to soothe the contracting muscles in his arm. "The antidote is breaking down the poison in the bloodstream. So it can make the muscles spasm sometimes." She told him as his hand stopped moving and she set it gently on the bed at his side.

"You didn't have to stay. One of the other–"

"I don't mind." She cut him off. "Besides, I like hospitals. I'm used to them." She looked away at the beeping monitor in the corner, pretending not to blush. _Honestly, who actually enjoys being in a hospital. It's pathetic._

"Oh," was all he said. She was glad he didn't seem to notice that she was blushing. "How… how did you stop the poison?"

Sakura turned around then, grateful for the change of subject. "I extracted most of the hard metals."

"Extracted?" he asked, stunned.

"Yes, with a mixture of herbs and water, I infused my chakra into it and pushed it into your body. They I used the mixture to dilute the poison and draw it away from the cell walls of your organs." She demonstrated levitating the water in and out of him.

"I didn't even know that was possible."

Sakura laughed. "Tsunade-shishou is the creator of that technique. You're quite lucky she sent me." Sakura winked and Kankurou smiled.

"And what about the antidote you made?"

"Well, that's more a testament to your medicinal herb garden. I didn't realize Suna was so well stocked. If it weren't for that, I couldn't have made it so quickly." She pulled up a chair and sat next to him. It was becoming uncomfortable to look down at him and speak.

"Chiyo-baasama is the one to thank for that."

"The old woman?" Sakura asked, alarmed.

"Yes, she was the village's leader in creating poisons. So she made the herb garden and decided what plants she would grow. Eventually, the hospital took over it, when she retired. It's still used for poisons sometimes, but mostly it's for making antidotes now." Kankurou used his arm to push himself into an almost-sitting position.

"I had no idea she was so powerful." Sakura thought about the senile old woman who attacked Kakashi because he looked like his father.

"She was taught by the original creator of the kugutsu no jutsu," he looked at her and sighed. "Puppets." He made the marionette hand gesture and raised one eyebrow.

"I know what kugutsu no jutsu is." Sakura bit back, folding her own hands over her chest.

"Fine, fine." He nodded, though it looked like he was smiling. "Chiyo-baasama was an expert poison maker, and Sasori of the Red Sand's Grandmother."

"Sasori of the Red Sand?" Sakura asked curiously. That name sounded familiar, for some reason.

"He was a master of kugutsu no jutsu. All three of my puppets, Karasu, Kuroari, and Sanshouou are handed down from him. He was legendary." He sighed and touched the bandage wrapped around his chest.

"What happened to him?"

"He's a member of Akatsuki now." His face was grim, and suddenly Sakura understood.

"You fought against him?" And again, the question she'd thought about earlier came back. _How was it that he was still alive? The person could have easily killed him._

"Yeah." He sounded bleak now, and Sakura could see that he was beginning to breathe heavily. "But he's gotten a lot stronger now. Even Chiyo-baasama couldn't make an antidote for the poison."

"Well, he can't be that good if a teenage girl can defeat him." Sakura teased, but she was worried about him getting too worked up so she tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, but you're no ordinary teenage girl." Clearly Kankurou was speaking about her tutelage under the Godaime, but still Sakura couldn't keep the creeping blush from of her face. It was the first real compliment she'd gotten since she started her medic training. Even Kakashi still looked down on her, like she was a weak little girl.

"W-well, it was nothing, really." She felt uncomfortable accepting praise. "Wait, his name is Sasori?" she asked suddenly forgetting about the fleeting blush and trying to remember back to something she'd read a long time ago in Tsunade's library about an expert poison maker. "Sasori, Sasori…" she repeated the name, trying to picture it on the roll of parchment.

"What?" Kankurou perked up.

"Ah-ha! That's it! Sasori of the Red Sand used to be _partners_ with Orochimaru when he was in Akatsuki. That's why there was manipulation at the molecular level! It _was_ just like Orochimaru's snake venom, because Orochimaru must have helped Sasori perfect the technique!" She was quite happy with herself, finally getting the connection. "Sasori was known for using traditional Suna herbs to make poisons in new combinations that were far more deadly than before. And it must have been after he left and met Orochimaru that he synthesized the mutated snake venom into the hard metal version!" Sakura stood up and began to pace. She completely forgot that Kankurou was even in the room. She was talking to herself now. "Yes, that makes sense. That's why the hard metal was infused with chakra-laden red sand." She pressed her finger to her lip and turned to pace back in the opposite direction. "Ingenious, really. Who would've thought to use chakra to mold the metal into sand so that there was an organic compound to administer the toxin?"

"You sound impressed." Kankurou interrupted, and she looked up at him, a little sheepishly.

"No, not _impressed_, per se." She looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound as though I think what he did was–"

"Don't worry about it. It was very clever." He sounded bitter. And Sakura had to remember that _he_ was a poison user as well. She'd probably made him feel inferior, and he was already feeble and wounded. _Great, go ahead and emasculate him even more!_

"Kankurou-san?" Sakura hedged the question very carefully. She knew she shouldn't ask it, but she was just too curious. "How is it that you… that you're," she shook her head and started over, "What I mean is that it's a miracle you're alive…" she looked at him sideways and decided that the look on his face didn't like that phrasing any better, "It's just that, the poison would have been immobilizing in minutes. For an opponent like Sasori, it would have been easy for him to… for him to…" She trailed off, losing her nerve.

"You mean, why didn't he kill me?"

"Yes." Sakura answered, looking at him.

"Well, I suppose because he thought it would send a message to his former village, or maybe to challenge Chiyo-baasama. I don't know." He conceded after a few seconds and sighed heavily, sinking back against the bed. There was a thin sheen of sweat that covered his forehead and Sakura moved to wiped it off with a dry towel hanging nearby.

"You shouldn't stress your body. You're still trying to recover, Kankurou-san." Sakura decided to drop the topic of his mortality. It probably wasn't good for him to think about too much right now anyway.

"I'm fine. I can't sleep anymore anyway." Sakura wasn't sure, but she thought she might have heard a wave of sadness in his voice. And if she had heard it, she wouldn't be too surprised. After all, he was probably a wreck about losing his brother.

"Strange." Sakura whispered aloud, not meaning to.

"What's strange?" Kankurou asked, watching her closely.

"Oh!" Sakura hadn't meant to speak it. "It's just that, you-you," she stammered, "you _should_ be tired." She waved her hands innocently. Kankurou just narrowed his eyes and watched her. In the growing silence, Sakura grew more and more uncomfortable. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and pulled at a strand of her hair until it broke. "Fine!" She finally gave in and hung her head. "I just meant that it's strange to think of you and Gaara-sama as brothers."

"Why?"

"No, it's not like that. It's just…" Sakura struggled for the right words. "It's just that when I first met you…"

"That was a long time ago." Kankurou spoke with a deep rumble to his usually drawling voice.

"I know it was. And we've all changed so much since then. But still, I never really saw you as brothers. I mean, on a shinobi team, it's easy to forget that you're all related. And I guess I just always thought of you all more as teammates that anything else." Sakura rambled and blushed. She knew she was just digging the hole deeper and deeper.

But Kankurou gave her a curious kind of look then. "Well, that's how I used to feel too." He spoke quietly so that Sakura had to lean in to listen.

"Oh?"

"Before, when we were genin…" Kankurou didn't finish. She was sure he didn't want to speak ill of his younger brother. "But after Gaara fought Uzumaki Naruto, he changed." His voice sounded a little stronger then, more sure.

"Yes," Sakura reminisced, quietly agreeing. She didn't know if he even heard her, because he kept talking.

"He was… alone," he chose his words carefully, "back then. And he thought that the only way for people to acknowledge him was to kill." He didn't look at her when he said it, and Sakura felt a chill run up her spin. She wondered how many people Gaara had killed, and how many Kankurou had watched. She wondered how many times Gaara threatened to kill his own brother. "He was a… monster, but only because he didn't know any other way to exist. He grew up thinking, no," Kankurou shook his head, "he grew up being _told_ that he was a monster. And so, he was."

"Told?" Sakura wondered about that. No one talked to Naruto, they weren't allowed to mention the kyuubi. _What was it like for Gaara_ she wondered.

"Our father, the Kazekage, ordered that Shukaku be imbued into an unborn child. He _decreed_," Sakura didn't like the sound of the word, "that it be Karura's baby." He paused, and looked at Sakura's confused face. "Our mother."

"You mean he–"

"He had his own son turned into a monster. And when Kurura died in childbirth," it wasn't lost on Sakura that Kankurou used his mother's name instead of calling her his mother, "she cursed the whole village and my father for making her suffer. Her brother, my uncle, Yashamaru was the one who took care of Gaara." He had a distant look in his eyes, like he was strangely detached from all this.

"What happened to him?" Sakura could tell from the tone of voice Kankurou was using that Yashamaru was in the past tense.

"My father thought Gaara was too dangerous to control. Everyone was scared of him. So he ordered his assassination–"

Sakura gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Yashamaru tried to kill him?"

"Gaara told me, not too long ago, what happened. Yashamaru hated Gaara, and blamed him for killing his sister. He gladly volunteered for the mission. And when Gaara discovered…" He voice sounded clogged, like there was something stuck in his throat.

"He killed Yashamaru." Sakura finished for him. Kankurou nodded.

"That's when Gaara decided that he would live to prove his existence by killing anyone who opposed him." Even in all the history of Suna that Sakura read in books, nothing could come close to the truth of their sad, broken family. "When Temari was old enough, she tried to take care of us. She was the only one who really remembered Kurura…" he looked away from her, "it wasn't her fault. Gaara was out of control back then. No one _asked_ him if he wanted the Ichibi sealed inside him. No one asked if he wanted to be a _monster_."

"But Naruto–"

"I know Naruto grew up almost exactly like that, but it was different for Gaara. Naruto eventually made friends, and fell in love," Sakura blushed and looked away, "Naruto _fought_ to be human. But Gaara didn't have _anyone_." His voice sounded stretched and anguished. She knew what he was thinking. He was blaming himself, because he should have been there for Gaara. But he was just as frightened of him as anyone else.

"Kankurou-san," Sakura touched his arm lightly, "you can't blame yourself. That was a long time ago. And Gaara-sama," she paused, trying to think of what to say, "Gaara-sama is a completely different person now. He's the Kazekage. He saved his village. He's loved." She spoke softly as she recalled the harrowing story the medic-nin's had been all too eager to share with her while they were working in the greenhouse. It was clear from their expressions, they idolized their Kazekage.

"That's not what the elders think." Kankurou was angry.

"What do you mean? They elected him Kazekage, didn't they?" Sakura didn't know Suna politics all that well. But even though Tsunade and the elders of the village didn't always agree, they still respected her. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have wanted her to become Hokage.

"The only reason they made Gaara the Kazekage was to keep an eye on Shukaku. They never trusted him, because he's a jinchuuriki. He saved Suna, and used his last bit of strength to move the sand away from the village so no one would get hurt. And I bet they still think he's going to lose control and destroy the village!" He voice started to get louder and his face was slightly pink from the blood flowing. "After everything he's done for them, after what they _made_ him, he's still loyal to his people! But they can't see that, because all they do is sit at their round table and pass judgment on other people!" He was almost lifting himself out of bed now, he was so angry.

"Kankurou-san, please. Calm down, it's not good for you to get so worked up." Sakura pushed him flat against the bed with both palms flat against his bare chest. "Please." She asked again and watched as the wild, frantic look disappeared from his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." He shrugged out from under her hands and turned his face away, embarrassed. "I just don't see why they can't awknolage what he's done, how much he's changed."

"They will," Sakura reassured him, "someday." She knew, personally, how long it would take Konoha to accept Naruto. And she knew, not everyone accepted him yet. He would have a long road ahead of him, proving himself over and over to people too close-minded to see how special he really was.

"Is it like that for Naruto?" He asked quietly, his color fading back into a sickly whitish-green.

"He's had to work very hard for the village to accept him. But there are still people, the elders for one," she looked at Kankurou pointedly, "who think he's dangerous. But anyone who's met Naruto can't think of him like that. He'd risk everything to save the people he loves." Suddenly, Sakura's throat closed up and her tongue was dry. "He's saved me." She spoke quietly and hung her head, remembering when she was a child and used to point and say things about the monster-boy behind his back. She was no better than the rest of them.

"He saved you from Gaara." He looked almost ashamed, like it was some great tragedy. Sakura smiled and tilted her head.

"Naruto's saved me from a lot of things." The look on Kankurou's face didn't change though. "But it's like you said, Gaara-sama was much different back then. And he showed me that I was weak. So I've trained to become stronger so I could show everyone that _I_ can save people now." She smiled broadly. It felt strange to declare her ninpou out loud to an almost-complete stranger.

"You saved me." Kankurou smirked this time. It was crooked and mischievous. It wasn't until then that Sakura really looked at him. Without the kabuki makeup, he really did look rather, ordinary. She's was so used to the twisted purple bands that framed his eyes and ran down his nose. He seemed to notice she was observing him because he stopped smiling and looked at a point over her shoulder. "Gaara spoke about you once."

"Me?" Sakura was so alarmed; she couldn't keep the shock out of her voice. "Why on earth would Gaara-sama talk about me?"

"He told me that to protect someone, you stood against him." Sakura looked at her hands. She remembered jumping in front of the wall of sand to protect Sasuke. "He said he was going to kill you, would have killed you, but something stopped him."

Sakura voice caught in her throat, _what could have stopped him_? "W-what…?" she choked out.

"Gaara said there was something… familiar about your eyes." He wasn't looking at her.

"My eyes?" she wondered aloud, musing about how close she'd come to dying for Sasuke.

"Yeah. He told me your eyes looked just like Yashamaru's." Sakura did look at him then. He was still looking over her shoulder, not really looking at her.

"Your uncle? Then one who tried to kill Gaara-sama?" _Why would that stop him from killing me?_ It didn't make any sense to her. Surely, if she reminded of someone he'd loved and then been forced to kill, shouldn't that have made him hate her?

"Yeah. I know it's fucked up, but that's what Gaara used to associate with love." He chuckled and Sakura tutted at his use of language. "So he saw that look in your eyes, and he couldn't kill you."

"_That _look?" She wondered what it could be that Gaara saw that could make him spare her life. She remembered it well, that day of the exam in the trees. She was protecting Sasuke. But even then, she hadn't really thought she could _die_, she was so sure that someone would save her. And it looked as though, now, she'd saved herself.

"Gaara said it was love." Kankurou looked at her. For the first time, Sakura really looked back. She noted the way his nose suited his face perfectly, his shaggy brown hair, is dark brown eyes. He wasn't nearly as _hefty_ as she thought he was. Perhaps it was the crow outfit that made him appear bulky so you couldn't tell him from his puppets.

She wanted to correct. She wanted to tell him that it was a school-girl crush, that it was foolish. But she knew it was a lie. She loved Sasuke then, and she frowned as she admitted to herself that she loved him now. But it was different now. It was distant, like it was pulled thin across her memory in the years he'd been away. She was still going to drag him back and beat some monumental sense into him. But she wasn't sure that she could profess to being _in_ love with him anymore. She didn't know how to feel about that. "Love, hu?" she asked as she looked through the arched window at the back of the large room. The sun was beginning to crest in.

He didn't say anything else. And when she looked back, he was once again laying on the bed, his eyes closed. He wasn't trembling anymore, and his color looked more natural in the rising sunlight. "When will you be leaving?" Kankurou asked, his eyes still shut.

"Soon." Sakura commented from the side of her mouth. For some reason, she was apprehensive about saying goodbye. It was a strange way to pass the night, this conversation that they'd had. But it was strangely satisfying too. Sakura enjoyed speaking with Kankurou so openly. She couldn't remember the last time she talked this much to anyone.

"Sakura…" he said her name, and she was surprised to find that her heart jumped a little. It was the first time he'd ever said her name, she wondered if he realized that.

"Yes, Kankurou-san?" She asked, stepping closer.

"Be careful." He replied, still refusing to open his eyes. And for some reason, that annoyed her. She _wanted_ him to open his eyes, so she could see the look on his face when he said it. She knew _why_ he said it, or course. She was about to track down Akatsuki, it would probably be the hardest, most dangerous battle she'd even been a part of. There was a chance she could die, she knew this. They were still so much stronger that she was, but she wasn't frightened. This was the life she chose a long time ago and now was the time to show everyone what she was capable of.

"I will." She finally said as she ran a hand over his forehead to check his temperature.

His eyes snapped open then, and he snatched her wrist in his hand. Their eyes locked for a long moment when neither of them spoke.

"Saaakura-chaaaaan" Naruto's loud voice broke the spell and Kankurou's hand fell away. But Sakura didn't move, she continued to look down and him and wonder what life was like in the desert. He was nothing like what she expected, but still comfortingly so. It was a familiar life they both lived, something they both understood. And she knew what it was like to love a jinchuuriki, just as he did. Maybe the two ninja's from different backgrounds and jutsu's had more in common that she considered before.

"Rest now and heal fast."

Sakura didn't know why she did it. And apparently, from the look on his face, neither did Kankurou. But for some _insane_ reason Sakura leaned down and kissed his cheek. He immediately blushed and she was glad to see that he was well enough to flush at the cheeks. She smiled softly and turned to leave him.

"You promised."

Sakura turned back and he was smirking again. She was so disjointed by the expression on his face, that for a moment, she wasn't sure what he wanted. _What did I promise him?_ He chuckled and Sakura was a little upset to kind that she liked the sound of his laughter. It was… nice.

"The IV," he finally told her and Sakura blushed wildly then.

"Oh, yes. I did promise." So she leaned over him from the opposite side of the table, rubbing her chest across his stomach and with slow, deliberate movements, pulled the IV line out. It only took a tiny amount of chakra to close the needle puncture, and then she retreated. She was satisfied with the clearly discomfited look on his face.

"Saakura-chaaan," Naruto sounded more annoyed now.

They both laughed quietly, and the spell was broken. And she made her way to the door.

"I'm glad you saved me." He called as she left, and it seemed like such a curious thing to say. _Why wouldn't he be glad that I saved him?_ She wondered, and pretended to ignore the slight inflection on the word 'you.' But she smiled all the same as she sauntered from the room, preparing herself for the coming battle.

It was then, as she clutched her fists against her palm, that Sakura swore she would be the one to kill Sasori of the Red Sand. Even if she died, she would take him with her. He was the obvious choice. He knew Orochimaru, and unconsciously she admitted to herself that she had a score to settle with the scorpion king.

* * *

I was thinking of doing a quick follow-up to this about Sakura's thoughts during her fight with Sasori as she remembers their conversation. I was going to call it 'The Scorpion King' what do you think?

Oh, one more thing. The title: "The Crowing" is a direct allusion to Kankurou's name. 'Kurou' literally means: crow. So, I thought it was neat, plus it's also the name of a Coheed and Cambria song.


End file.
